External Links

(Note: CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external links.)

Gym memberships can be costly and when you only have yourself to be accountable to, it's easy to stay in bed instead of strapping on your runners. But a group of Winnipeggers has come up with an "excuse-free" exercise option.

Born out of a pure love of fitness, Rick Duha and Tom Hall have been leading the free weekly sessions every Wednesday morning at 6:15 a.m. for the past 12 weeks.

Their mantra is JUST SHOW UP (yes, in all caps) and they use the city as their gym. During the sessions, expect to work out, dance and share many sweaty hugs and cheers, they said.

Everyone is welcome, but it's "participate at your own risk." There are no certified trainers in the group. Duha and Hall said a number of the regular participants are trained in first aid and are able to deal with small incidents.

When asked what level of fitness is needed to participate, Duha said, "We specifically tailor all of our workouts so that it's user-driven. We're going to be there yelling, we're going to be there motivating people to work hard. So the fittest people will get a heck of a workout, as will the least fit person here. Just the way that we design the workouts — it's all time-based, not progress based — so it can be good for anyone at any level."

Up to 50 people have showed up for the Wednesday morning sessions, mostly 20- to 30-year-olds, but they also have participants as young as 12 and as old as 57.

CBC Information Radio's traffic guy, Trevor Dineen, took part in this morning's workout. His analysis: "These people are machines! I can barely breathe right now. It's a fantastic workout, I've done it for 15 minutes; they're going to do it for another 45. I was actually happy I had to come back to do traffic."